Mudd's Women (episode)
The Enterprise rescues a con man named Harry Mudd who is trafficking in mail order brides. Summary The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) chases an unregistered starship, a small J class cargo vessel. Fleeing, the ship enters an asteroid belt. The small ship's peril increases further when its desperate speed brings on engine failure. Worse, the Enterprise is forced to extend its shields around the ship, and this extreme power expenditure destroys three of the crucial lithium crystal circuits. Scotty manages to beam the ship's master and three lovely women off just before an asteroid destroys it. The ship's master, Leo Francis Walsh, tells Captain Kirk that the women, Eve McHuron, Magda Kovacs, and Ruth Bonaventure, are not so much crew as cargo... Meanwhile, all ship's power is being channeled through a single lithium crystal circuit -- and the crystal has a hairline fracture at its base. Repairs are needed, and that means a visit to the nearest source of crystals, the mining colony on Rigel XII. A ship's hearing is convened to address the various offenses committed by Leo Walsh, and at this inquiry, Kirk learns the women are to be wives for settlers on Ophiucus III; each voluntarily left a situation where her marriage prospects were slim or non-existant. Leo Walsh's real identity, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, also comes out. Towards the end of the hearing, the final lithium crystal fails -- and when Harry overhears Kirk's orders, he begins to plan how the situation can work to his advantage. Using their allure, the women learn about the miners, especially how to contact them. With a stolen communicator, Harry manages to contact the miners first, and hammers out a deal. When the miners board the Enterprise, Kirk offers them an equitable price -- and learns they really want to barter: they want to look at Mudd's women, and maybe trade for them. On top of which, they want Mudd released, the charges dropped. Things are going well for the miners and for Harry Mudd, but Kirk needs those lithium crystals or his ship will spiral into Rigel XII. Then the miners discover Harry has sold them a bill of goods: the women's natural beauty and allure has been enhanced by the Venus drug. Two of the miners are married, and the chief miner is quite unhappy -- until he learns the truth about his potential wife Eve, and the Venus drug. Background Information * An earlier script for this episode was one of the candidates for the second pilot, which is probably why it has an earlier stardate despite being filmed after The Corbomite Maneuver. The other candidates were Where No Man Has Gone Before (which became the second pilot) and The Omega Glory (finally filmed near the end of the second season). * This episode is the first appearance of Harry Mudd. The character returns in TOS: "I, Mudd", and in TAS: "Mudd's Passion". * Kirk's quarters has a window in it in this episode and a few others to follow. The window will disappear in subsequent episodes. * The quarters used by Mudd and his ladies is the Kirk quarters set with all of the furnishings removed. * Eddie Paskey appears in green coveralls for the only time in the series as "Mr. Conners" in sickbay, although it sounds like DeForest Kelley calls him "Thenners." * Also unique to this episode is the reaction the medicomp panel has to Ruth. Only two lights are visible on the panel and it makes some very bizarre sounds. As McCoy himself says, "It's not supposed to do that!" * Harlan Ellison visited the set during the filming of Mudd's Women. * A reaction shot of DeForest Kelley in the transporter room is actually lifted from later in the episode in sickbay. In the same scene, an editing glitch has the women shown lined up in a row before they have stepped off the transporter pads. * Although his offense record says that Harry Mudd is 6'1", Roger C. Carmel was actually 6'3" (witness his height compared to Shatner in several scenes). * The backdrop lighting used in this episode for Rigel XII, with tornadic streaks in it, was also utilized in "The Enemy Within". * Alexander Courage composed the music for this episode's trailer, the only time music was written specifically for a preview. His sultry trombone music was so appropriate, it was used in the actual episode as the women stroll through the corridors, while the rest of the score was written by Fred Steiner. Memorable Quotes * "Don't you think you could accidentaly manage to leave me behind here? On this planet, that would be punishment enough." ---Harry Mudd "I can't do that, Harry. But I will appear as a character witness at your trial....if you think that'll help." -- James T. Kirk "It'll throw away the key!" --- Harry Mudd Nitpicks * Harry and his girls are beamed aboard with no suitcases or boxes and then their ship is destroyed by an asteroid, yet the drawers in their quarters are filled with clothing. Where did that extra clothing come from? * If McCoy's medical scanner picked up weird readings from Ruth, why was the Enterprise computer unable to pick up those same readings in the briefing room when asked to scan the females? Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura Guest Stars * Roger C. Carmel as Harcourt Fenton Mudd * Karen Steele as Eve McHuron * Susan Denberg as Magda Kovacs * Maggie Thrett as Ruth Bonaventure * Gene Dynarski as Ben Childress * Jon Kowal as Herm Gossett * Seamon Glass as Benton * Jim Goodwin as John Farrell * Jerry Foxworth as Security Guard #1 * Eddie Paskey as Connors * Frank da Vinci as Vinci * Unknown actor as Bobby References asteroid, asteroid belt, double jack, J class, Leo Walsh, lithium crystal, lithium crystal circuit, magnetic storm, Ophiucus III, Rigel XII, Schiller Rating, subspace radio marriage, Venus drug Category:TOS episodes de:Die Frauen des Mr. Mudd nl:Mudd's Women